


Real Life is Lonely. The Afterlife is Lonelier.

by fandomsnstuff



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gen, JJ helps him out, JJ is a ghost, ghost au, slow burn? never heard of her, who forgets things, yuuri is a frustrated retail worker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-10-17 09:44:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10591440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomsnstuff/pseuds/fandomsnstuff
Summary: The first time it happened, Yuuri didn’t really think it was anything strange.But over the course of a few months, strange things kept happening. If he forgot to take his meds one morning, he would find them on the kitchen counter waiting for him. If he fell asleep on the couch, he would wake up with a blanket on and his glasses off. Or he would come home and find the front door of his apartment locked when he swore he had forgotten to lock it before he left.Not to mention that one time he got out of the shower and "JJ Leroy" was written in big messy letters on the fogged-up mirror.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> JJ is my beautiful son and deserves to be loved. There's also not enough JJ-centric fics out there so my patriotic ass decided to write one and here it is. 
> 
> Thanks to my friend @thegalliumspoon for coming up with the idea and helping me brainstorm for it! 
> 
> This is also just a little "introductory" bit. Actual chapters will probably be longer.

The first time it happened, Yuuri didn’t really think it was anything strange. 

It had been a long day for him. He had worked an 8-hour shift at the clothing store down the street; it seemed like all the rude and annoying customers had all decided to show up on the same day and only want him to help them. Then, since there was only one cash register open, it took 20 minutes to get all of them checked out and leaving the store after closing time. The store had been left in a mess so it took another 15 minutes to make sure everything was, at the very least, off the floor and hung up on a hanger before he, the manager, and the other person that had been closing that night could leave. 

He stumbled into his apartment at 10:15 and didn’t bother taking off his work clothes before flopping onto the couch and grabbing the remote. He leaned against the armrest and stared blankly at the tv as he quickly flipped through the channels. Sometimes he would pause on a show for a few seconds before flipping to the next, not really registering what he was seeing. He did this for a minute or two before the channels stopped changing. 

Startled out of his daze by the sudden loudness of the sound coming from the tv that didn't seem to be stopping, Yuuri’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He hit the up button on his remote to change the channel to a higher number, but the screen didn’t budge. He tried the down button to change to a lower channel, but it still didn’t change. He tried pressing a couple numbers on the remote but nothing worked. 

Giving up and blaming it on the cheap remote he had bought nearly three years ago, he put it down on his coffee table and leaned back into the couch. “Well,” he said, “guess I’m watching the Canada vs. USA women’s olympic gold medal hockey game for no reason.” 

Yuuri fell asleep on the couch halfway through the third period. When he woke up, it was the middle of the night. His glasses were folded on the coffee table and there was a blanket on his lap that he swore he didn’t have before. But he just shrugged, assuming he had been really tired and had probably just forgotten that he got up to get a blanket. He stood up and stretched before going down the hall to sleep in a regular bed for a few hours before he had to go back to work again the next day. 

He didn’t even notice that someone had turned off the tv.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was quick. Simple. After that one sharp jab of pain, JJ felt nothing. He saw nothing. He was...nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should mention, that this is an AU where Yuuri and the other characters aren't figure skaters. JJ is still a figure skater though because Plot Devices™

JJ knew a lot of things. He knew he was 19 years old. He knew he was Canadian. He knew he was a figure skater. He knew he had been in the middle of a routine when everything had suddenly stopped. 

JJ was performing his King JJ free skate at a charity event in Detroit. It was to raise money towards funding kids who couldn’t afford to play sports. As he was skating, something on his right skate felt strange, but he kept going, not paying too much attention to it. He did one of his final jumps in the program and when he landed, he slipped and fell backwards. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and then he felt nothing. 

It was quick. Simple. After that one sharp jab of pain, JJ felt nothing. He saw nothing. He was...nothing. 

He didn’t know how long he spent in the darkness. In the mysterious and lonely black void with no sound, no light, no floor, no ceiling, no walls. JJ sighed and closed his eyes, accepting his fate. Accepting that he would never see his friends or family again. That he would be stuck here, alone and lost, never knowing what happened to him. 

But as he opened his eyes, he was somewhere completely different. It was still dark, but JJ could see the outline of a couch and coffee table in front of him. His gaze traveled up and landed on a tv with various video games and controllers scattered around it. He spun in all directions, noting everything he could see. Windows with curtains, fridge, counter, sink, dirty dishes, coffee maker, oven and stove, microwave with the time on it (10:05 pm). 

Albeit he was still confused, JJ was positively beaming. He wasn’t in a blank void, he was back in the real world. With objects and people and finite spaces. He noticed a hallway leading to other rooms and made his way to the first door on the right. It was a small bathroom, nothing too special, equipped with a shower, sink, and toilet. All the essentials. 

Then, further down the hall, there was a door on the left that was open just the slightest. He peeked in and saw an unmade bed with a small pile, of what he assumed were pajamas, resting in the middle of the mattress. As JJ made his way further into the room, he didn’t notice much else. A laptop charging on the floor next to the bed, a dresser pushed against the wall to his right, across from the bed. It was clearly being put to good use, considering there were no clothes on the floor. 

JJ turned to leave and caught sight of himself in a mirror that was hanging on the back of the door. He paused, staring at himself. He was still wearing his green free skate costume and his skates, as if he was fresh off the ice. But one of the most notable things was that he was semi-transparent. He could look straight through his torso and see the bed behind him. He also noticed how he wasn’t standing on the ground, he was just barely floating above it.

JJ stared. He stared and stared. He was a ghost. A spirit. Of course he knew that he had died, his time in that dark void and suddenly appearing in a strange apartment had told him that much. It just hadn’t really hit him until then. 

He broke his gaze away from the mirror and looked down at his hands. He could see them, yes. But he could also see through them to the floor. That wasn’t right. It wasn’t natural. 

JJ was finally snapped out of his daze at the sound of a door opening. He cautiously made his way out of the bedroom and down the hall to investigate. He saw a young man with messy black hair and tired eyes hidden behind a blue pair of glasses push the door closed and drop his bag next to it. JJ watched as this nameless young man walked right past him to the couch. He sat down heavily, picking up the television remote from the coffee table. 

Curious, JJ moved so he was standing right next to the man. He didn’t flinch, didn’t even move from where he was mindlessly flipping through the channels on the tv. JJ moved again, this time so he was sitting on the couch next to him or, more accurately, floating just above the seat next to him. The man still didn’t move. 

“You can’t see me, can you?” JJ spoke, the sound of his own voice foreign to him from not using it since he had woken up in that strange void. The man still didn’t react. JJ sighed, “You can’t hear me either.” 

Resigning to the fact that he’ll probably be stuck in this apartment completely unnoticed for who-knows-how-long, JJ watched as each channel went by. He was starting to tune out the split-second pieces of dialogue until one caught his attention, “-bella Yang has scored the first goal of the game putting Canada in the lead with five minutes left in the second period!” 

JJ went right up in front of the tv, his face almost pressed against it. It was a hockey game, Canada vs. USA, and he hadn’t heard wrong. There was a close-up of his fiancé. Her face was somewhat obscured by her helmet but he could tell it was her. His beautiful Isabella, on the ice, surrounded by her celebrating team members. She was smiling and laughing. JJ felt tears prick at his eyes when, after being released by her team mates, she kissed her glove and brought it above her head, towards the sky, then back down to her heart. There was no commentary over it and he knew, he could tell, that it was meant for him. 

“I’m here.” He whispered, although no one would be able to hear it, “I’m here.” 

~~~

JJ sat there cross legged, eyes glued to the tv for the entire rest of the game. He had tears rolling down his cheeks the entire time and didn’t bother wiping them away. He cheered whenever Canada scored and finally at the end of the game when they won. His soft tears turned into full blown sobbing when there was a close-up of Isabella crying with her team after they won. He could just imagine what it would be like if he was there. He would still be crying, but he would be in the stands. There would be the promise of getting to see her after the medal ceremony. Taking her out to dinner to celebrate. Getting to hold and kiss her until they both fell asleep. 

JJ swiped at his eyes when the screen cut from the ice rink to a couple announcers talking about the game. When his vision cleared, JJ turned to look at the young man only to find him asleep. He stood up and made his way over to the young man. Standing over him, JJ gently bent down and plucked off his glasses which has been resting somewhat askew on his face. JJ folded them and placed them down on the coffee table, remembering how his mother would complain about getting marks on her face when she would fall asleep with her glasses on. He looked around for a blanket, the only one he remembered seeing was the one on the bed. 

Shrugging, JJ floated down the hall and to the bedroom. He pulled the blanket from where it had been bunched at the end of the bed and into his arms. As he carried it down the hall, he paused halfway back to the couch. He looked down at the blanket in his arms; the solid, real blanket, and his semi-transparent arms. JJ laughed, he laughed so hard he almost dropped the blanket and there were tears in his eyes. He calmed himself down a minute later, “this would look so strange if that guy just woke up right now.” He wheezed, “his comforter just floating in a ball in the middle of his hallway.” Chuckling, JJ walked the rest of the way to the couch and draped the blanket over the man’s sleeping form. 

JJ moved around the side of the couch and was about to try and find something in this apartment to identify this man but he was stopped in his tracks by the voice of a reporter on the tv, “And now we have an exclusive interview with the Canadian women’s hockey Olympic Team Captain, Isabella Yang. Thank you for taking time to answer a few of my questions today!”

“Oh, it’s no problem!” JJ inhaled sharply at the sound of her voice. He turned slowly to face the tv and there she was. No helmet or teammates to block his view of her. She was just as stunning as ever. She was wearing that smile that made her eyes sparkle and crinkle at the edges. Even though he was dead, JJ felt his heart skip a beat. 

He slowly floated over to the tv, sitting in front of it again. He watched intently as the reporter asked her various questions about how the game went and the team’s strategy throughout the Olympics. He tuned out the words they were saying and just let the sound of her voice wash over him. 

“I apologize in bringing this up, but you went through a personal loss a few months back and, from my knowledge, it hit you quite hard. What inspired and motivated you to keep going through such a difficult time?” 

JJ was brought back to attention at the strange question from the reporter. He noticed how Isabella’s smile dropped slightly. “You mean how I got through losing JJ?” It was subtle, but JJ heard the catch in her voice. 

The reporter nodded, “Yes. I apologize if it’s too personal, you don’t have to-” 

“No, no, it’s alright.” She wasn’t upset with the reporter, it was just hard to think about him, JJ could tell. “It was hard to not just...let grief take over. I wanted to lock myself in a room and cry. Honestly, sometimes I still want to. It was so sudden to lose him and it would have been so easy to just let everything in my life go and only focus on the sadness.” JJ leaned closer to the screen, taking in every word she said, blinking away tears that threatened to fall again. “But I knew that he wouldn’t want me to do that. He would want me to keep going, keep pursuing my goals and my dreams.” JJ found himself nodding along with her words because it’s true, he didn’t want her to be sad, he wanted her to be able to keep going without him. “And I know that, even though he’s gone physically, he’ll never be gone spiritually. He’ll always be in my heart and whenever I feel like I’ve hit rock bottom, I can hear his voice. I can hear him saying, ‘come on, Isa! You can do this! I believe in you!’ and listening to that little voice in my head, well, it got me here.” She smiled softly, her eyes wet.

The reporter cleared her throat, “Thank you, for that. It was wonderful. And I’m sure it’ll show people watching that they shouldn’t give up on their dreams!” 

Isabella smiled at the reporter then turned to the camera, “Yes, if you’re going through hard times, don’t give up, please. I believe you can get through it and achieve your goals, and I know JJ does, too.”

JJ reached up and hovered his hand gently above the screen as the reporter signed off and the screen cut away from Isabella. “I love you.” He whispered, his eyes watering. “I love you so much and I miss you and I do believe in you.” He swallowed thickly and brushed his tears away. “I’m so proud of you, Isa.” 

With that, JJ turned off the tv. He stood and looked at the sleeping figure on the couch. He sighed and went off into the apartment, again looking to find something to identify the man who lived here. As he wandered, he thought about Isabella and the things they never got to do together. They never got married. He never got to see her in the dress she had been so excited about. They never exchanged their vows. 

But that was meaningless. He may have never signed a piece of paper and proclaimed his love for her in a church, but he still loved her. With all his non-beating heart, he would always love her. 

Even when death do them part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isabella Yang is a hockey player and no one can tell me otherwise.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri took another bite of his cereal and JJ squinted at him. “Where have I seen you before? I swear I know you from somewhere but I can’t remember and it’s killing me.” JJ paused and looked down at his translucent hands. He snorted, “‘killing me.’ Great word choice there, JJ.”

A month later, JJ was leaning over the breakfast bar and staring intently at the young man across from him as he was eating breakfast. Shortly after the nameless man went to bed the first night JJ had been in the apartment, he had found a nametag in his bag, identifying the mystery man as “Yuuri”. The name didn’t ring any bells in JJ’s mind, but as he had observed the man go about his life in the past month, JJ was struck with an odd sense of familiarity. 

Yuuri took another bite of his cereal and JJ squinted at him. “Where have I seen you before? I swear I know you from somewhere but I can’t remember and it’s killing me.” JJ paused and looked down at his translucent hands. He snorted, “‘killing me.’ Great word choice there, JJ.” 

He propped his head up on one of his hands as he watched Yuuri finish his breakfast. At first, when JJ had found out that he was tied to Yuuri and could only be a few metres away from him at any given time, he had felt strange about having to watch Yuuri go about his day, but as time went on, he realized that Yuuri needed someone to be there. In the past month, JJ had recovered Yuuri’s wallet three times and his glasses five times. He had pulled Yuuri away from walking straight into someone on the sidewalk too many times to count and always made sure to reposition him when he fell asleep on the couch, to make sure he didn’t wake up with a sore neck. 

Yuuri had noticed when JJ did something. Like when Yuuri almost walked into the path of an oncoming cyclist and JJ had roughly pulled him backwards, or when his wallet had gone missing and after searching his entire apartment, it had magically appeared on the counter after JJ had put it there.

JJ still hadn’t found a way to communicate with Yuuri, so he accepted the nagging familiarity in the back of his mind and the fact that he had to be pulled along as Yuuri went through his life. 

JJ floated closely behind Yuuri as he walked down the hallway to his bedroom. “You’re not in a good mood today.” JJ noted. He’d gotten into the habit of stating his thoughts out loud. No one could hear him, so why not? “You’re stressing, Yuuri.” He reprimanded. “It’s just dinner. You’re going to work for they day, come home, get changed, and go have fun with this guy.” Yuuri entered his bedroom and JJ mimicked leaning against the closed door out in the hallway. Even though he didn’t need to, JJ raised his voice to keep having his one-sided conversation, which was something he did often. “This guy has been coming in every single day for the last three weeks. So either he’s incredibly accident prone and needs to buy new clothes everyday, or he has a huge thing for you and comes in just to see you. Considering he asked you to dinner yesterday, I’m gonna go with the latter.” 

JJ stepped away from the door as Yuuri emerged, dressed in black dress pants and a white collared shirt. He went back over to the kitchen and threw together a lunch for when he had a break at work. Grabbing his wallet, phone, and keys, Yuuri left the apartment with JJ following him out the door. The two travelled together down the street until they were in front of the high-end clothing store that sold fancy dresses and suits to business people, wedding parties, and people with too much money to spend. 

They went in and weaved their way through the few customers in the store to the break room hidden in the back for employees. Yuuri put his lunch, wallet, and keys into the locker provided to him, put on his name tag, and sat down at the table in the break room to wait for the start of his shift. Yuuri pulled his phone out of his pocket and fiddled with it nervously. He didn’t turn it on or unlock it, he just fiddled with it. JJ gasped, “don’t you even dare think about cancelling your plans with him tonight.” He leaned down so he was staring at the side of Yuuri’s face. “You and I both know that you think he’s cute. You’ve come too far to be able to cancel.” 

JJ was about to say something else as Yuuri’s best friend and coworker, Phichit Chulanont, came bounding into the break room. “Yuuri!!” Yuuri jumped at the sound of his name and smiled at Phichit. JJ had initially been shocked at how energetic Phichit could be compared to Yuuri, but realized that they were a great combination. It also helped that Phichit could read Yuuri like a book. “I know that face.” Phichit said accusingly, “you’re thinking of canceling with Victor, aren’t you?” 

Yuuri spluttered, “n-no! I was just-” 

“I know what you’re thinking, and it was not a fluke that he asked you out.” 

Yuuri shifted in his seat so he was facing Phichit fully, JJ stepped to the side so he wasn’t in the way. Even if neither of them could see him. “Yeah but what if-” 

“No ‘what if’! I’m banning it right now!”

Yuuri chuckled, “you’re banning it?” 

Phichit puffed his chest out. “Yes. I’m banning it.” He deflated back to a normal stance, “now, how about you take some of your own advice.” 

Yuuri tilted his head to the side, “my own advice?” 

Phichit finally moved out of the doorway and sat in the seat across from Yuuri. “Yeah, like what you told me to do before my interview so I wouldn’t be nervous.”

“Phichit that was just something I made up when you asked me for advice.” 

“No it’s not. I’ve heard you say it before. And it works. So-” Phichit leaned forward and placed a hand on Yuuri’s, “-before you go to dinner tonight; take a deep breath, tell yourself ‘I can do this.’ ‘I know I can do this.’, hold your head up high, and just go for it.” 

JJ had been nodding along to the conversation but stopped abruptly. He turned to look at Yuuri who had a small smile on his face, “I guess I do say that.” 

“No way…” JJ whispered. 

Phichit smiled, “there’s that smile. Now, like I said, take some of your own advice and just have fun tonight.” Phichit winked, “but not too much fun.” 

Yuuri blushed, “it’s barely even a date, Phichit!” 

JJ had tuned out the conversation. “That means….you’re the guy who…” JJ ran his hands through his hair, unable to say much, “Yuuri you have no idea what you did for me. I basically have to thank you for my entire skating career!” He ran his hands over his face, unable to say much more. 

~~~

_JJ was 15 years old and had arrived at the rink in Detroit for the first competition in his senior career. He had changed into his costume and skates already even though there was still four more skaters before him. He swallowed thickly, feeling the panic set in. He tugged at his mother’s sleeve to get her attention, “I’m just going to the bathroom.” He said quickly before turning and walking away from the ice._

_“Don’t take too long, JJ!” She called after him. JJ nodded weakly, not bother to turn and make sure she’d seen it._

_JJ didn’t actually do anything in the bathroom. He walked to the far wall and slid down to sit on the floor. He stared down at his skates and noticed as his vision blurred. He blinked and felt tears roll down his cheeks. His chest felt tight. This had never happened to him before and he didn’t know what to do. There was so much pressure on him. There was ringing in his ears until a soft voice cut through it, “-ou okay? Take deep breaths with me, okay?”_

_JJ nodded and listened to the breathing of the stranger. He followed their breathing pattern until he felt a little bit calmer. He wiped at his eyes and looked up at the stranger, “thank you.”_

_The stranger smiled, “it’s no problem.” The stranger took in JJ’s costume, “you must be a skater, huh? My friend brought me here to watch this competition. You must be nervous.” JJ nodded. “I’ll tell you what, whenever you get nervous, just follow these steps. Take a deep breath,” he breathed in and out to demonstrate, “tell yourself ‘I can do this.’ ‘I know I can do this.’, hold your head up high, and just go out there and skate. Okay?”_

_JJ took a deep breath, “okay.” He replied, standing up. “I should go, my mother is probably looking for me.”_

_“Good luck!” The stranger said with a smile as JJ left the bathroom._

_When he returned to his mother’s side, there was a skater on the ice and only one more before JJ had to skate. As he stood at the edge of the ice, JJ followed the steps the stranger gave him. When he performed, he felt calm. Calmer than he’s ever been and he gave the best possible performance that he could. JJ was proud of that._

 

~~~

JJ ranted to no one about what he was thinking after that. “This is unbelieveable! My entire senior career, I’ve used those steps before every performance! If it wasn’t for that I totally would have failed and lost a whole lot of competitions due to nerves! This is- This- ugh! I don’t even know what to say! Four years! Four years I’ve repeated that mantra! Take a deep breath, tell yourself you can do it, hold your head high, and just do it. I used it when I was going to propose to Isabella! I used it before presentations at school! Hell, I used it when I would go to restaurants and had to ask for extra ketchup!” 

It went on for the entire day. 

~~~ 

After his talk with Phichit, Yuuri did feel a little better. But he also felt something strange. It wasn’t so much his own feelings, but something around him. He just shook it off as just his nerves making him overthink but he couldn’t help but wonder if the strange energy had anything to do with the strange things that had been happening to him the last couple weeks. 

Like his lost items reappearing out of nowhere, or businessman Victor Nikiforov asking him to dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in the span of like just under two hours so bear with me


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Yuuri finished in the shower, he reached for his glasses that were sitting on the counter. Wiping off the foggy lenses, he put them on to look at his equally foggy mirror. Except the mirror wasn’t foggy like it normally was. 
> 
> There was something written on it.

Yuuri walked into his apartment and trudged to his bedroom, pushing his glasses up to his forehead as he rubbed at his tired eyes. It was only 5 o’clock in the evening but he could easily fall asleep right there and then, which he did. Without changing out of his work uniform, taking his phone out of his pocket, or taking his glasses off, Yuuri drifted off into a peaceful sleep on top of his covers. 

He didn’t know how long he was out, but he was woken up by his phone ringing. Yuuri groaned and reached blindly for his pocket, only to find it empty. He opened his eyes and blinked at the blurry darkness of his bedroom. The ringing had stopped but that wasn’t what Yuuri was concerned with at that moment. 

He sat up, noting how his covers were on top of him when he swore he hadn’t gotten underneath them before falling asleep. He looked to the table on the left side of his bed when the ringing of his phone started up again. He could make out the blurry outline of his glasses sitting on top of his lit up phone. 

“What the…” Yuuri whispered as he reached for his glasses. He slid them onto his face and threw the covers off of himself. He grabbed his now-silent phone. He stood up and checked the time, he’d been asleep for only half an hour. 

Yuuri then checked his missed calls and smiled, seeing they were both from Victor. It had been almost a month since that first dinner date with him and they’d gone out on a handful of other dates together. There was even one time where it was too late and too far for Victor to go home so he slept at Yuuri’s apartment. Nothing happened past lots of flustered cuddling, but it was nice. 

Yuuri jumped as his phone went off again. He answered this time, chuckling. “What could possibly be so important that it warranted three calls in a row?” 

“Yuuri!” Victor’s enthusiastic voice came through the speakers loudly. “Were you busy?” 

Yuuri ran a hand through his hair as he sat down on his bed, “no. Is there something you need? I thought you were working with that one client tonight?” 

Victor sighed, Yuuri could picture him tiredly running a hand through his hair. “I was supposed to but client from hell canceled, claiming they wanted nothing to do with our company anymore.” 

“Aw, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine, my boss didn’t blame me for anything. Even Yakov could see that that client was irrational.” There was a comfortable silence between them for a few moments before Victor spoke up again. “Anyway, I was hoping that since we both have this lovely night off, that I could take you to dinner and a movie.” 

Yuuri let out a long breath, “as long as it’s a movie we can watch on my couch and a dinner that I don’t have to leave the house for.” 

“Long day?” 

“You have no idea. Just-” Yuuri glanced at his clock. 5:45. “-give me thirty minutes. I’ll shower and order some food. Then you can come over.” 

“That works! I’ll bring a movie, then?” Victor’s smile was practically audible through the phone. 

The corner of Yuuri’s mouth quirked up in a small smile. “I’ll see you then, Victor.” 

“See you soon!” 

Yuuri hung up and stood, stretching his arms up above his head. In the bathroom, he turned the water on and let it run until he deemed it hot enough. He stripped down and stepped into the shower. He just stood in the shower for a minute or two, letting the hot water dampen his hair and run down his back, washing away his stress from the busy day at work. He sighed as he relaxed and the tension in his shoulders relaxed. 

When Yuuri finished in the shower, he reached for his glasses that were sitting on the counter. Wiping off the foggy lenses, he put them on to look at his equally foggy mirror. Except the mirror wasn’t foggy like it normally was. 

There was something written on it. 

Yuuri squinted at the writing. It said “JJ Leroy” in big, messy letters with a crown drawn underneath. 

Yuuri knew what this was trying to tell him; or at least he hoped he did. Quickly changing into a pair of sweatpants and a sweater, Yuuri sat down on the couch with his laptop. Pulling up Google, he typed in ‘JJ Leroy’. The first result was an article from a few months back. 

_**Canadian Figure Skater Jean-Jacques Leroy, 19, Dead After Tragic Skating Accident** _

Yuuri felt his breath catch in his throat. Although, he didn’t know what else he had been expecting. Scrolling down, Yuuri read the small article that accompanied the headline. 

_Yesterday, figure skater Jean-Jacques Leroy also known as King JJ by his fans, was performing at a charity event in Detroit when a malfunction on one of his skates caused the blade to fall off and injure him fatally when he slipped and fell onto it. Many of the spectators called 911 right after the incident, but unfortunately it was too late for the 19-year old figure skater. Paramedics say that he died on the ice, soon after his head hit the fallen blade, with little to no pain._

_He is remembered by his loving parents and fiancé. They ask that fans donate in his memory, if possible, to charities that help children get started in sports. For example, the Canadian Tire JumpStart program that JJ proudly supported throughout his professional career._

“Wow.” Yuuri whispered. He scrolled a little further down on the page and underneath the article was a picture of a young man standing on the ice, waving at the audience. The caption on the photo read, “JJ just after finishing his final performance in his last Grand Prix Final competition in December.” 

“So this is you, huh?” Yuuri mused aloud. “Well, I don’t know why you’re here but I guess it comforts me a little bit knowing you’re just a normal person and not some hell-beast.” He glanced back at the picture of the young man. “Although it’s kind of sad at the same time, considering you’re only nineteen.” 

Yuuri sat in silence for a moment before clicking back to the main page of Google. He went through different articles, some about JJ’s accident and others from before he died. He watched a few Youtube videos of his routines and listened to the song that was written for him: Theme of King JJ. Yuuri’s searching was interrupted by a knock on his door. 

“Yuuri!” Came a muffled voice from the other side. Yuuri’s eyes widened, he had gotten so caught up in this new development that he’d completely forgotten that Victor was coming over. He quickly shut his laptop and hurried over to the door. He opened it and stepped aside to let Victor in. The Russian man smiled widely at Yuuri as he closed the door. “So I brought a couple movies to choose from and I know you have some too so we can choose together!”

Yuuri shrugged, making his way back over to the couch. “Any movie is fine, I don’t really mind. And, um,” Yuuri cleared his throat, “I kind of forgot to order any food. So we can do that now but we might have to wait a little while.” 

Victor sat down next to him on the couch, “that’s alright. We can just order pizza or something.” He smiled brightly, reassuring Yuuri that, really, it was fine. “We’re all forgetful sometimes.” 

Yuuri leaned forward, grabbing his laptop off the coffee table and opening it back up. He closed the articles and videos that he had open. He pulled up a new tab and went to the website for the pizza place down the street. “Pepperoni?” Yuuri asked, looking up from his laptop at Victor, who had moved from the couch and was now fiddling with Yuuri’s tv and DVD player. Victor gave a hum of approval and Yuuri looked back at his screen. By the time he had put in the order, Victor had sat back down beside him, the remote for the DVD player in hand. “What are we watching?” Yuuri said, shuffling closer to Victor and fitting himself into his side, Victor’s arm falling around his shoulders. 

“The second Conjuring movie.” Victor said, hitting play. 

Yuuri looked up at him, “a horror movie?”

“Don’t worry, Yuuri. I’m here to protect you.” Victor teased. 

“Considering you thought there were scary parts in Sharkboy and Lavagirl, I’ll be the one protecting you.” Yuuri poked Victor’s side, smiling. 

Victor rolled his eyes, smiling fondly, but didn’t say anything else. They sat in silence, occasionally tightening their grip on each other and only pausing once to get their pizza from the delivery man. But Yuuri’s biggest scare came near the end of the film, during the climax. The male paranormal investigator had gotten into the house, but was blinded by some steam. He was making his way slowly through the house with blurry vision and Yuuri knew there was a jumpscare coming. He was tense with all the suspense and when the jumpscare came, it wasn’t so much what was on screen that was scary, it was the ear-splitting scream that came from behind him. 

Yuuri jumped, pulling away from Victor’s side in his panic. He glanced around his dark apartment with wide eyes. “Was that you?” He asked Victor. 

Victor paused the movie and regarded Yuuri with a curious look, “was what me?” 

“That scream.” Yuuri could practically feel his heart beating out of his chest. 

Victor’s eyebrows furrowed. “What scream?” 

Yuuri blinked and swallowed thickly. He shook his head and smiled softly at Victor. “Nevermind, I think the movie’s got me so worked up I’m just hearing things.” 

“Are you sure?” 

Yuuri fit himself back into Victor’s side. “I’m sure.” 

With one more worried look at Yuuri, Victor unpaused the movie. They sat there, again in relative silence, as the movie came to its conclusion. Once it was finished, Victor had to leave since he had work in the morning and needed to get to bed early. Yuuri closed the door and leaned against it, a long sigh escaping from his lips. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the door. 

It was silent in his apartment again, except for the soft humming of his fridge. But the silence was broken after a moment when a young man’s voice came from seemingly nowhere, “you heard me. You heard me scream during the movie. If you can hear me now, say something. Please. Anything.” 

Yuuri opened his eyes and pushed himself up from where he was leaning and made his way to his bedroom. “I can hear you just fine, JJ. Don’t worry.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr! @fandomsnstuff


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